In the commercial growing and harvesting of plants, it is often desirable to dry the harvested plant matter and to purify the material from unwanted adulterants. Further, consumers of harvested plant matter may want to selectively reduce moisture content in the harvested plant material, both immediately after harvesting and also after extended storage. Many common herbs and plants are dried before use, including basil (Ocimum basilicum), chamomile (Matricaria recutita), chives (Allimum schoenoprasum), coriander (Coriandrum sativum), dill (Anethum graveloens), marjoram (Origanum marjorana), mints (Menta piperita), parsley (Petroselinum crispum and Petroselinum crispum neapolitan), roquette (Eruca vesicaria sativa), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), sage (Salvia officinalis), sorrel (Rumex acetosa), tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus sativa), and thyme (Thymus vulgaris). In addition to herbs, plants used in cooking, home medicines, aromatherapy, and recreational enjoyment often require purification and even slight chemical modification through drying at elevated temperatures.
Plant purification is accomplished through exposing the plant matter to ultra-violet light. Chemical modifications and removal of unwanted moisture is achieved through drying the plant at elevated temperatures and by exposing the plant matter to the flow of warm air during the drying process, otherwise known as convective heat transfer. If the plant matter is not uniformly exposed to the warm air flow, drying times are increased and the process is less predictable and less efficient.
The efficiency of the convection process depends on the configuration of the drying unit. Prior art devices for drying and purifying plant matter suffer from in-artful designs such as blocks, cubes, and other shapes with ninety-degree corners that trap air and form pockets of uneven airflow. In addition, when the interior of the unit is coated with reflective material for ultra-violet light treatment, uniform exposure of the plant matter to the desired light wavelengths is unpredictable because of the complicated reflection patterns caused by the acute angles of the prior art devices.
There exists a need in the art for a plant dryer with improved convection flow. There further exists a need for a plant dryer with uniform reflectivity for application of purifying ultra-violet light to the plant matter. There further exists a need in the art for a plant dryer with improved efficiency in both drying and purifying to reduce the costs of treating plant material.